Footwear construction



1- 24,1970 CLl FTON FOOTWEAR CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 23. 1969 2Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ALFRED CLIFTON v ATTORNEYS 'A. LIFTON 3,496,655FOOTWEAR conswnucnou 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. '23, 1969 INVENTORALFRED CLlFTON ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofilice 3,496,655 PatentedFeb. 24, 1970 3,496,655 FOOTWEAR CONSTRUCTION Alfred Clifton, Tokyo,Japan, assignor to CITC Industries, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporationof New York Filed Jan. 23, 1969, Ser. No. 793,298 Int. Cl. A43b 23/00,23/ 24 US. Cl. 36-45 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This is aprocess for making and a construction of uppers for footwear, theforward part of the upper having a U-shaped slot window with an insertsecured to the inner surface of the upper and having a chain laced to itwith the chain extending through the slot window above the upper surfaceof the upper.

The present invention is concerned with processes for making andconstructions for footwear particularly adapted for simple andinexpensive manufacture for providing desirable ornamental effects.

Heretofore ornamental effects, particularly for the forward part of theuppers of footwear, have been applied by stitching of ornamentalthreads, or by sewing on pieces of fabric, leather, plastic or the like.It has been expensive and diflicult to apply other ornamental articlessuch as buckles, chains or metal ornaments. In part, this has beenoccasioned by the awkwardness of securing such ornaments to the upper.When efforts were made to do so before the upper was joined to the sole,the process of adding the sole was interfered with. If the ornamentswere secured after the sole was joined, and the footwear shellessentially completed, there was difliculty in handling the shoe tosecure the ornament thereto.

According to the present invention, a greatly improved and enhancedornamentation for footwear is provided in the form of a chain or thelike secured to the top surface of the toe portion or forward upperportion of the shoe. Since chains or the like do not lend themselvesreadily to machine operations for attachment to flexible surfaces suchas shoe uppers, the present invention is particularly concerned with andprovides a simple and inexpensive process for construction of footwearwith such ornamental effects.

According to the present invention, a chain or similar bulky ornament issecured to an insert piece of flat flexible material such as cloth,plastic, leather or the like, arranged in a shape suitable for theornamental effect desired. For example, this shape for the front portionof the shoe may be parallel to and somewhat within the outline of thesole of the shoe. A practical and particularly attractive and ornamentalarrangement is provided by running a lace around the links of the chainand through the flexible material, whereby the contrasting color of thelace may contribute an ornamental effect, and a simple mode ofattachment of the chain to the material is provided. This step isperformed readily since it is not encumbered in any way by the remainderof the shoe, such as the upper or the sole, and can even be at leastpartially mechanized.

The insert piece just formed is then preferably suitably secured to theinner side of the shoe upper, with the chain extending through a slot orwindow in the upper arranged in a fashion similar to that of the chain.In this way the chain extends above and appears to be on the outersurface of the shoe upper, for maximum ornamental effect, and a verysimple mode of attachment may be used as by stitching or adhering thepiece to the upper. Thereafter, the sole may be attached in thecustomary way.

The invention will become more fully apparent from consideration of thefollowing description of a preferred embodiment thereof taken inconjunction with the annexed drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 shows a perspective view of the fore part of the shoe accordingto one form of the present invention with portions broken away;

FIGURE 2 shows a fragmentary longitudinal cross-sectional view of thechain and lace arrangement, viewed along line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a further fragmentary cross-sectional view showing themethod of mounting the chain and insert, viewed along line 33 of FIGURE1; and

FIGURE 4 shows an exploded view of the various pieces of the upperconstruction of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, FIGURE 1 shows a perspective view of the forepart of a shoe, showing particularly the upper portion. It is to beunderstood that the present invention is not concerned with the methodof attachment of the upper to the sole portion, which is not hereillustrated. Any conventional method of securing the sole to the uppermay be used, such as cement-lasting, Goodyear Welt, vinyl molding, orthe like.

As is conventional, the upper may be made of any desired flexible flatmaterial such as cloth, leather, vinyl, other plastic, or the like.Preferably the fore or toe part of the upper 13 (and where desired theentire upper) is made of one piece and has a window in the form of slot11 formed therein, in the arrangement desired for the ornamental deviceto be included, such as a chain 16. In the arrangement shown in FIGURE1, the slot 11 extends in a generally U-shape following the generaloutline of the sole 20 of the shoe. It will be understood that the slot11 may extend in any other desired manner, such as across the shoe, in aV arrangement, in a rectangular or box arrangement, in a semicirculararrangement, in parallel lines, etc., according to the ornamental effectdesired. The slot 11 itself is very conveniently produced by being cutout during the same stamping process by which the entire upper 13 is cutout from its original sheet, by suitably forming the cutting die.Accordingly, it will be obvious that, apart from the minor cost ofproviding the die with the appropriate cutting edges, the formation ofthe slot 11 offers no additional expense in the fabrication of the shoe.

For the purpose of securing the ornamental chain 16 to the shoe, aninsert flap or piece 12 is provided. This may be of any suitablematerial, similar to that of the upper 13, but may be of less expensivematerial. For example, where the upper 13 may be of leather or vinyl,the insert flap may be of cloth. Its color desirably matches orcontrasts in a pleasing manner that of the upper 13.

The upper may be either all of one piece or made of separate piecessuitably secured together. Desirably, the fore part 13 of the upper isof one piece, and for economy it may be formed integrally with the rearportion 14, shown only in fragmentary manner since it is not material tothe description of the present invention.

The insert piece 12 preferably has an outline 15 slightly larger thanthe area in which the chain lies or in which the slot 11 lies, as isshown in FIGURE 1.

In fabricating the shoe, one step, of course, is to stamp out the propershape of the upper 13 including its slot 11. An independent step is thefabrication of the insert piece 12 and its attached chain 16. As isobvious, the insert piece 12 is suitably cut to shape, in any well-knownmanner, and thereafter the chain 16 is secured thereto. For bothornamental effect and for physically securing the chain 16 to the insertpiece 12, a line of apertures 17 is suitably preformed in the insertpiece 12. For example, these apertures may be punched in at the sametime that the piece 12 is cut out from its original sheet. Theseapertures 17 extend along the line that the chain 16 is to be secured,and preferably at intervals coordinated to the link length. The chain 16is then secured to the insert piece 12 by means of a lace 18 which maybe a woven textile lace, or a narrow strip of plastic, leather, orsimilar material, but or extruded to the desired narrow fiat shape. Thelace 18 is preferably arranged so that it successively passes through anaperture 17a, around two contiguous chain links, such as 16a and 16b inFIGURE 2, then back through the same aperture 17a, then underneath theinsert piece 12 to the next aperture 171), and then around the same link16a and its contiguous link 16c, and so forth. Alternatively, the lace18 may be secured in place by passing a loop of it through insert piece12, and holding it by a thread or other means on the under side of thepiece 12, in a manner similar to machine sewing. Where desired, the lacemay be round instead of flat, as in the form of a cord or heavy thread.It may also be sewn in place by machine. The ends of the lace 18 arepreferably suitably secured beneath the insert piece 12 as by suitableadhesive, or may be left free.

A particularly pleasing effect is obtained if the ornamental device 16is a chain formed of twisted links, as in FIG. 5, so that each linkassumes the same position on the insert piece 12 as its adjoining links.An additional pleasing ornamental elfect can be obtained by running sucha twisted chain through a pair of pressure rollers or grinding rollersto produce flattened portions on those parts of the links 17 extendinghighest above the piece 12.

As has already been suggested, the slot window 11 is made with a widthto accommodate the chain 16. The insert piece 12 is then placed againstthe underside of the upper 13 with the chain 16 extending through theslot window 11. The insert piece 12 is then secured to the fore part ofthe upper 13 by suitable means. Illustratively this is shown in thepresent instance as being done by a line of stitching 19 on the outerside or" the chain 16, and a further line of stitching 21 on the innerside of the chain 16, with the two lines of stitching '19 and 21extending parallel to the edge of the slot 11. This stitching may bemade very small and unobtrusive, as by a matching thread and finestitches, or may be made bold and of a contrasting color for furtherornamental efiect. The lace 18 may also be matched to the upper 13 incolor, or contrasted therewith as may be desired.

The beginning and ending portions 23 of the chain 16 may be suitablyconcealed, as by a strip 25 of material matching or contrasting with theupper 13 and sewn at its ends 27. A tongne 29 may be secured to the plugregion of the upper 13 as by stitching at 31 in a conventional manner,and this latter stitching is also then concealed by the strip 25. Otherarrangements for providing a. tongue such as 29 or for concealment ofthe ends of the chain 23 may be also provided, such as, for example,place of strip 25, the tongue 29 may be folded back and extended in aflap covering the chain ends. Other arrangements will also readily occurto those in this art.

It will be understood that, while the ornamental arrangement supplied inthe embodiment just described is on the upper portion of the shoe, itcould equally well be supplied at the counter or rear portion of theshoe, or on the tongue 29, as may be desired.

Also, where desired, a thin liner piece or lining may be secured to theinner surface of the insert piece 12 and upper 13, which "will thenconceal and cover the lace 18, the stitching 19, 21, and the edges ofinsert piece 12, to provide a smoother surface inside the shoe. Such aliner or lining may be of any desired material.

Accordingly, the present invention has provided a shoe construction andprocess which is simple and economical for the purpose of applyingornamental chains or the like to shoe uppers. It is understood that theinvention is not limited by the illustrative example given, but isdefined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A footwear construction comprising an upper having a window therein,an insert piece, an ornamental member secured to said insert piece inthe same configuration as said window, means securing said insert pieceto the inner side of said upper, with said ornamental member extendingthrough said window above the outer surface of said upper, and a solesecured to said upper.

2. A shoe construction as in claim 1, wherein said window is alongitudinally extending slot and said ornamental device is a chain.

3. A shoe construction as in claim 2, wherein said insert is providedwith a series of apertures extending along said chain, and said chain issecured to said insert by a lace extending through said apertures andaround links of said chain.

4. A shoe construction as in claim 3, further including a pair or" linesof stitching, one on either side of said slot, securing said insert tosaid upper.

5. A shoe construction as in claim 3, wherein said lace is formed inloops, each loop extending around two adjoining links of said chain, andeach loop having two ends extending through a single one of saidapertures.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS ALFRED R. GUEST,

US- Cl .R.

Primary Examiner

